I was not born evil this the cruel world made me
by Platonic1
Summary: This is a story of how Rinoa became Ultimecia.


I am Rinoa. I was not born evil this the cruel world made me.

After we defeated Ultimecia, we thought we would usher into a new era of peace. A World Peace Forum was held in Galbadia shortly after our victory to shape the future of this world. Representatives from all cities, towns, and Gardens got together to discuss the potential threat of sorceresses.

Cid, Laguna, my father, and Squall tried to assure everyone that I was a good sorceress. However, they were met by strong opposition from Victor Deling, son of the late Vinzer Deling, Mayor Dobe, and many other anti-sorceress proponents.

"Rinoa is a good sorceress, she means no harm," Squall said, raising his voice.

"As long as the sorceress exists there is always a possibility of them getting corrupted by power and turning evil, no?" argued Dobe.

"Yes, but just because there is a possibility does not mean we should live in fear of them," replied Cid.

"Have you even seen the destruction caused by these sorceresses?" Victor Deling countered. "Sorceress directed the missile strike which kills hundreds of young men and women. She killed the acting president of Galbadia in front of everyone. She took over the Galbadia garden and waged war against Balamb garden. She even caused Lunar cry. And you say that we should not fear them? Are you out of your mind? Who is to be blamed for all this if not the sorceress?"

"Both Rinoa and Edea were under control of another sorceress when all this happened," argued Caraway.

"Do you think the families of those who died cares about those specifics? All they know is that sorceress killed them and that is the truth. The sorceresses have yet again brought pain, misery, destruction, and suffering to this world. They must be held accountable for their action," spoke Dobe.

Charges against sorceress were laid, and a resolution was passed for me to be frozen in the cryo-capsule so I may not pass my powers to another. I understood their fears. I really did. I deeply regret the amount of pain and suffering I have caused while I was under the control of another sorceress.

But what about me? Was it fair to punish me for everything that had happened in the past? I pleaded them to reconsider. I promised never to harm anyone, but my words fell on deaf ears. They did not hate me; they hated the very existence of sorceresses.

The fear-mongering of the sorceress quickly spread among the public and everyone turned against me. I went from a hero and a savior of this planet to a villain for simply being me. I did not ask for sorceress powers they were passed on to me without my consent. I was born this way, and that was not my fault.

Everywhere I went people saw me with the fear in their eyes. They hated me for being a sorceress. No one saw me as a girl who was suffering too. They saw me as a monster.

Their sorceress paranoia got to a point where they passed a law where every girl born and every female alive would have to wear Odine Bangle 24x7. They believed that the best way to stop the sorceress from the future was in the present. The use of magic and para-magic was banned.

Squall, being the commander of SeeD was supposed to be a champion of the anti-sorceress movement. But he was also a sorceress's knight. He was conflicted between his duty and his heart. Amidst tremendous political pressure, Squall resigned as the commander of SeeD to spend time with me.

The day I was supposed to be frozen in the cryo-capsule was quickly approaching. They were expecting hundreds of thousands of people come to watch me get frozen. They had made an event out of my misery.

Laguna, my father, Quistis, Zell, Selphie, and Irvine were our only allies left in this world. Under the darkness of the night, our friends assisted us to escape. They forged our new identity and secured us a route to Winhill, a quaint and pastoral village.

There Squall and I settled in our new home away from the watchful eyes of the world. After a long time, we finally felt peace. No one knew us there so everyone was very friendly. Soon, we felt part of a community. After a long time, we felt a sense of belonging.

Once the word of our escape spread out, a bounty was placed on our heads, but our friends did well to hide our tracks. Life in Winhill was starting to feel normal again. Sometimes life got boring in this quiet village, but we knew this was as good as it gets given our circumstances.

Squall and I got married in a small ceremony a few months later. It was the first time we saw all our friends since our escape.

Two years later, I gave birth to a beautiful girl. We need her Light. She was the joy of our life. I still remember her innocent laughter, her first world, and her stumbling walk.

One day while playing outside with other kids, two-year-old Light fell and hurt herself. Out of motherly instinct, I cast a magic spell to heal her, and that was my big mistake. Everyone who witnessed it was shocked. Squall and I came clean and told them our story. Much to our delight they were very supportive of our plight and welcomed us with open arms.

The next day morning we woke up by the noise of airships hovering over our house. A fully armed brigade surrounded our house. They had deployed magic-jammer all around Winhill rending my magic useless. Someone in the village tipped off the army and destroyed our peace for bounty money. I will never forgive them.

Squall held them off for as long as he could so Light and I could escape from the back door. Little did we know that was nowhere to run, we were surrounded. We told Light to hide and not come out until everyone was gone. She was a good girl who listened to her parents. We hoped that once we were gone our friends would come to rescue her.

I tried to help Squall, but without my magic I was useless. We knew we couldn't win, and this was it. We looked at each other fondly and shared one last kiss. Light was hiding in the house so we had to take the fight away from her to keep her safe.

Squall charged outside with all guns blazing and I followed him. I was struck by bullets in both of my legs and fell to the ground, while Squall charged ahead. They pelted his body with bullets. His screams will forever haunt me. Our daughter, that brave little soul ran to help her dad, and they mercilessly shot her down too. They kill an innocent little girl. She was only two years old. I crawled towards her and cradled her in my arms. Her blood-covered face will forever haunt my nightmares. I cried. I cried. And I cried as she took her last breaths in my arms.

With Squall and Light gone, I had nothing to fight for, nothing to live for. I surrendered. I junctioned myself to Griever, it was Squall's Guardian Force (GF), who had all of his memories.

As I was frozen in the cryo-capsule, I felt my body go numb. The only part of my body which was still functional was my brain. Thanks to Griever I replayed those memories over and over again. Our dance, our fights, that concert, his space rescue, him saving me in sorceress memorial, our promise, our hush wedding, our daughter and his death. I saw and remember it all.

It felt as if I was frozen in the time while the world moved on. In my frozen hell, it was just me and Griever. With every passing day I lost my memories and myself.

It must have been centuries by the time I was released from my cryo-capsule. I had forgotten all of my memories and even my identity. Even my body had morphed into something distorted by magic.

I was aware of the memory loss because of junctioning GF. That was part of the reason why I had junctioned Griever before entering cryo-capsule. I wanted to forget all the pain and suffering I had to endure. Now, that I couldn't remember it all, I felt empty.

After all those years, the only memories that remained was a deep hatred for this world, and someone named Squall.

I woke up in a dystopian world with no sign of life. I eventually came across a device called Junction Machine Ellone (JME) which allowed me to send my consciousness in the past. But I was not ready for what I was about to see. I saw the unjust prosecution of sorceresses across time. Any girl capable of using magic was bullied, tortured, and hunted down by SeeD. From two years old to 80 years old, they hunted all sorceresses who fell out of the system. To them, we were not a human, but an abomination that must be eradicated. The more I saw, the more I hated the world.

I eventually came across the ultimate spell called Time compression. Time compression is the concept of condensing all of time and space into a single moment, or "singularity." By compressing the entire universe in this manner and placing myself at the center of it, I could assimilate all of creation into herself, then use my sorceress power to recreate everything according to my desires. I could start this world anew. A world in which sorceresses will be treated like humans. A world where the sorceress's powers won't be feared but embraced. I will create a world where the sorceress would no longer have to live in fear of being hunted like animals by SeeD.

However, casting Time Compression requires incredible power, so I started possessing sorceresses across time one by one until I was powerful enough to cast it.

But as fate would have it the accursed SeeD and their leader Squall would intervene in my plans.

After an arduous battle here, I lie on the floor with Squall's gunblade piercing my body. I lie here as fragments of my memories and my life flashed before my eyes. It is some poetic justice that Squall would kill me and liberate me from my eternal torment.

After centuries in cryo-capsule, death feels like a liberation. Even though I am dying, seeing Squall and Rinoa (me) together one last time makes me happy.

I am Ultimecia. I was not born evil this the cruel world made me.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

After seeing Mobius Final Fantasy - FFVIII The Sleeping Lion opening with Ultimecia dancing like Rinoa I couldn't help but think about Rinoa = Ultimecia theory again. I know Square-Enix has denied R=U theory but it is still fun to explore. I think it add a whole another complexity to the story.

Leave a review if your like this story. Thanks :)


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